The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
An improved mode of ventilation that uses the electrical activity of the diaphragm (AEdi, or more simply Edi) has been introduced to clinical practice. As an example, NAVA (Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist) is a mode of mechanical ventilation that delivers assistance in proportion to, and in synchronization with, a patient's respiratory efforts, as evidenced by an electrical signal generated within the respiratory center in the medulla and transmitted through the phrenic nerves to the diaphragm. NAVA uses a catheter inserted into a patient's/volunteer's mouth/nose, down their esophagus, and to the stomach. The electrodes array catheter detects electrical activity (AEdi) of the diaphragm and transmits it to the ventilator, which in turn delivers a supported breath to the patient.
AEdi, or the electrical activity of the diaphragm, is a result of stimulating the respiratory center in the patient's brain. Accordingly, as is generally accepted in the industry it can only be found in a human volunteer; manikins, such as CPR manikins, do not have a brain that functions like the human brain to generate this signal nor are they equipped with an electrical subsystem that mimics the respiratory electrical activity of a human body. As a consequence, a human volunteer is needed in the case of training personnel on the operations of NAVA mode of mechanical ventilation, especially catheter positioning. As recognized by the present inventor, soliciting the support of a volunteer for training and demonstration is often difficult because the catheter insertion in the volunteer's mouth/nose is uncomfortable and can result in subjecting the healthy human volunteer to risk of agitation, injury, vomiting and aspiration. In addition, training on patients is usually unethical and often more limited than desired, especially in the case of infants, where a parent or guardian rarely grants permission for their infant to be used as a “training subject” to support health care professionals on NAVA training.